Devon Knowles lives and works in Vancouver, Canada located on the traditional territory of the Coast Salish peoples of the Pacific Northwest. Knowles has a material centred practice that considers the production methods of both materials and objects and how together they influence and form the language that surrounds them. From denim fabric and aluminum to coloured glass and concrete, the varied histories, economies and social meanings of diverse materials are framed and combined visually in her work. In moving such substances from their everyday context to a new environment, our appreciation of their properties and capacities becomes heightened. In working and reworking material, using traditional and contemporary fabrication methods, a rich language of the interplay of material and method emerges. As she engages with theories of perception, optical effects and tactility, alongside the direct act of making, Knowles encourages the viewer to access her work from a shared intimacy and sympathetic attentiveness.
Her sculpture, installation, public and two-dimensional work expands on these subjects but is not limited to them.
Her work has been shown nationally and internationally and is in public and private collections. She is represented by Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC and is faculty at Langara College, snəw̓eyəɬ leləm̓.